Mustain Named National SEC Freshman of the Week

BY ANDRES FOCIL

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain has been named the national Freshman of the Week by Rivals.com as well as the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week after throwing for three touchdowns in Saturday’s 21-19 victory at Vanderbilt.

In just his second start, his first conference game and his first game on the road, Mustain completed 13-of-20 passes for 224 yards with three scores and an interception. The touchdown passes covered 56 yards to Marcus Monk, 21 to Felix Jones and 15 to Ben Cleveland as Arkansas improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC.

The Springdale native is the first Razorback freshman quarterback to win his conference debut since Barry Lunney in 1992, and he is just the second freshman in school history to win his first two starts. Mustain won his first start against Utah State last week, 20-0. Brad Taylor won his first three starts in 1981.

“Mitch did a nice job, especially for his first SEC road game,” UA head coach Houston Nutt says. “He threw some nice deep balls to Marcus Monk and London Crawford, and he did a good job managing the game. His receivers did a good job getting open and he had good protection, but he also showed he can move around when he has to. He keeps getting better and we need that to continue.”

Mustain’s 224 passing yards are the third-most in a single-game by a UA freshman, trailing only Taylor’s 307 yards against North Carolina and 250 against Baylor in 1981. His yardage total is also the most for a Razorback since Matt Jones’ 252-yard effort against Florida in 2004.

Mustain’s three scoring passes tie for the sixth-best single-game mark in school history, and he joins Casey Dick (Ole Miss, 2005) as the only freshmen to reach that mark.

He completed passes to six different receivers and led the Hogs on scoring drives of 68, 81 and 93 yards.

For the year, Mustain has completed 26-of-43 passes for 390 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Arkansas plays host to Alabama on Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. game nationally televised by CBS Sports.